Pingit app from Barclays rolled out to UK corporates

17 May 2012

Barclays Pingit smartphone application is now available to corporate clients in the UK allowing them to receive payments from their customers. Originally rolled out to retail banking customers earlier in the year, the new corporate collections functionality will provide corporate customers with an easy and convenient way to pay their bills, as an alternative to paying by cash, cheque or bank transfer simply by using their mobile phone.

Pingit only requires mobile phone numbers to transfer payments. It allows users to receive and send money to anyone with a registered UK current account and UK mobile phone number.

The corporate collections functionality has two offerings, enabling businesses to register for a unique corporate ID and/or quick response (QR) code, which is linked to a corporate current account held with Barclays. Businesses can then include their Barclays Pingit corporate ID or QR code on statements and invoices, allowing customers using the free Barclays Pingit app to simply enter the corporate ID into their phone or scan the QR code to initiate a payment.

John Kelting, head of product, Barclays corporate banking, said: "Customers increasingly want accessibility and ease when it comes to managing their money and Barclays Pingit provides just that. It gives customers a clean, straightforward and safe way to pay their bills by simply using their mobile phone. With the payments landscape rapidly evolving and expectation of immediacy of payment among consumers growing, the need for businesses to look for new and innovate ways to meet consumer demand and streamline payment processes will become increasingly important."

Available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry, the Barclays Pingit app can be downloaded for free. The app is protected by a five-digit passcode, set by the user. Both Barclays and non-Barclays current account customers can use the application as it relies upon the UK Faster Payments Service shared infrastructure. Barclays received some complaints about ‘jumping the gun’ when it unveiled its Pingit app ahead of other UK banks and building societies that will use the FPS infrastructure and Clairmail software to shortly offer the same service nationwide, as was made plain at the recent Mobey Day event. Barclays counters, of course, that it is just keen to get these peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments services out to customers as quick as possible, and with the increasing use of mobile phones, by youngsters, you can understand why. A new channel to market is rapidly opening up.